latest news on the week's top stories international journalists including n l c news crew come under rubble fire while covering the conflict in syria. wealthy americans up to the bill president obama signs a stop gap door to raise that taxes as part of the deal to avoid plunging off the fiscal cliff. and an icon of french cinema. arrives in russia amid speculation he's due to receive a russian passport after a quarter his own country in their tracks around.

the week's top stories that they says are see with me welcome to the program as the syrian conflict saw a renewed violence in the first week of the new year it also led to more casualties among journalists covering the crisis a searing correspondent for pro-government media was said to have died a wounds sustained in a gun aton by rebels as he was returning home from work and also the arabic news crew and several international reporters have come under rebel sniper fire outside the capital and one allowed colleagues come out was injured while trying to escape the confines and this is his account of what happened. we arrived at the damascus suburb early in the morning to report on the syrian army operation we were moving from street to street and when we reached the dock my colleagues and i got caught in crossfire we tried to escape running one after another fearing that armed rebels

would notice us a syrian army soldier accompanied us the entire time he constantly kept his on the situation and helped us to escape the gunfire the rebels were firing on us my colleagues and i were wearing bulletproof vests with the word press on them the firing was very intense and it was difficult to find shelter i ran and fell down i hurt my arms but the syrian army doctors gave me first aid on the scene so i could continue to do my job there were many other correspondents there with me including iranians and syrians one of the syrian cameraman was also slightly wounded like me . meanwhile dozens of people were killed in a series of attacks on damascus petrol stations they said weak opposition forces accuse the government of a deadly bombing on wednesday while the authorities blame the rebels for a terrorist attack on thursday middle east expert pepe escobar believes a willingness to end the syrian conflict must also come from outside the country so that it's very sad to say to everybody all over the world that the top geopolitical

threat of two thousand and thirteen is going to be the top geopolitical tragedy of two thousand and eleven the rape of syria the only possibility it would be that the opposition. in a syrian way this sides not to listen to the saudis the turks that the americans the brits and the french and they sit with the assad government and they walk out the transitional government or at least the period leading to free and fair elections is this going to happen not likely. police in bahrain have again violently surprised an anti government demonstration with unrest in the kingdom approaching the two year mark protesters are calling for a transition to democracy elected government and better rights for the country's share my choice eisma darwish from the european bahraini organization for human rights claims that security forces from abroad are stoking the violence by firing

tear gas into the homes of unarmed civilians. security forces who are working for the ministry of interior and my pain are practicing and all to by and then i love to violation of human rights when confronting when pro-democracy protests and behaving a lot of process took place and many different villages and areas around behaving and all of them all of them. and they were a crackdown by that by the security forces and by hey who are most to be and not by me and they are working. and them and so and period and they they were going from different countries foreign countries like pakistan and jordan and syria and yesterday and the village where i live in and it was tear gas to city by security forces and i could see security forces running down the street by by my house and

shooting grams in the inside the house that is a movement was compete but after witnessing that with that was during and position to or that this situation in bahrain or there have been too short and bahrain has unlike to what to what they are explaining like they are in cartagena human rights in a different country arab country but when it comes to buying they use double standard so the process there is here and by having a look they are those rights because processors they are the minority and not the majority but they are using such methods to prevent of them violent security forces from entering them there is their religion and attacking it on armed civilians and children like we witnessed and the big deal and also of the four year old child being attacked by security forces with tear gas canisters. this is still ahead for you in the program that has

a longtime leader on his maybe two to counsel surgery to attend his own inauguration task the opposition demands a new election if he doesn't show up. the f.b.i. is accused of failing to warn american occupy acts of it is that there was a plot against their lives despite knowing about plans to kill u.s. citizens. barack obama has given the green lifestyle law increasing taxes on wealthy americans in a move to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff it follows months of political bickering among us lawmakers right up until the january first deadline if the deal had been passed americans could have seen billions of dollars of tax hikes and spending cuts which were due to automatically come into effect and charlie from wide awake news says not all agreements are so hard to pass through the congress is an enemy when the cameras are off and it's time to pass a trillion dollar nearly trillion dollar defense bill they have no problem

whatsoever coming to coming together and holding hands with that kind of a deal together since two thousand and one namely we've been covering this nation by proxy the world by crisis and it doesn't matter who gets hurt is good but who gets worse by the way so as long as the special interests are so long as it's always under the shadow of a crisis they will act it's only when it has to do with acting in behalf of the people of this nation it seems like the people always take a backseat and economics x. marks guys or says that although an immediate crisis has been avoided the main underlying problems remain unresolved. the fiscal cliff is just more theater bankers and politicians trying to distract people from the underlying root catastrophe that is a bunch of rancor who are manipulating the system day in and day out the strong economy this fiscal cliff is just more bromo more theater and it doesn't really

focus on the true underlying problems and we're going to see more of this going forward in two thousand and thirteen anything about the tension from the mobs what they're pitchforks and torches there are coming out for these people they want to just delay that day of reckoning for many months if they can but the day of reckoning twenty eight it's comic. and we're told they can only. twenty thirteen watch the kaiser report oh programs are available and. it's been a week of new year's celebrations around the globe with fireworks and cheering crowds greeting twenty. one mixed emotions regarding the ged that's passed with some such to say to an end but many more hopeful of better times. takes a look at the woes that could have. twenty twelve

was certainly full of disappointing headlines hope fueled by the arab spring turned into the turmoil of the arab autumn the war in syria claimed countless lives and the fiscal crisis all the european union torn apart at its very seams and the problems facing our world today certainly don't offer themselves up to an easy fix what if things had turned out differently what if opportunities were actually seized upon instead of missed well here's our look at the two thousand and twelve headlines that could have been. diplomacy succeeds in syria ending bloody conflict. instead this was the image of syria the world saw increasingly violent clashes between government forces and the opposition had claimed more than forty thousand lives efforts to negotiate a diplomatic solution fell flat because divisions ripped apart both the country and the international community hundreds of thousands of refugees have fled to

neighboring states where many have found conditions to be dismal meanwhile syria's war is threatening to spill over its borders as tensions escalate within and in the region. have told me to try and sanction slashed as iran's nuclear to accept. gunning to end gun fire the us rules to restrict foreign. mideast peace to israel league's two state parks with palestine. yet this was their reality israel's assault on palestinian militants in gaza israel's anti-missile shield repelled the most attacks on its territory but a strike claimed the lives of more than one hundred sixty palestinians many of them civilians despite harsh condemnation from many in the international community the war and israel's subsequent decision to construct three thousand new settlements effectively slammed the door shut to any prospect of peace people power moment you step aside and let democracy in. get lost get most notorious kuantan the most

prison permanently shot. euro zone cuts the cuts and lifts austerity. but the news of austerity only tightened as deep public sector cuts brought thousands of angry demonstrators to the streets of greece spain italy and portugal. the worst economic crisis of a generation has battered the european union's very foundations exacerbating tensions between member states but some regions desperately wanting out i grew up in a europe that was divided from east to west but i'm now living in a europe that is divided from old to self never at any point in the history of this union has there been more discord of rank that we covered. corporate cash banned from the campaign coffers as part of the us political please. know we here for u.k. brits quit european union. founder julian the song to point to un free speech and.

instead a song remains a political refugee at ecuador's london embassy where he's been granted asylum he continues to fight extradition to sweden over alleged sex crimes charges that he says are politically motivated and tied to his work in leaking international government secrets. the power of people speaking up and resisting together terrifies corrupt democratic power so much so that only people here in the west and the enemy of governments an enemy to be watched and enemy to be controlled and to be impoverished true democracy is not the white house true democracy is not. true democracy is the resistance of people with the truth against flies from the right here in london every day ordinary people teach us that democracy is free speech and dissent. from heretic to

hero american whistleblower bradley manning finally freed. drowning almost more nations agree to end iraq of remote controlled war. egypt's arab spring sees democracy defeat hardline islam as. the reality on the ground was anything but egyptian president mohamed morsi is pharrell like power grab unleashed fury and frenzied street battles and a fast track to constitutional overhaul referendum left a bitter opposition eager for change for them two thousand and twelve saw the arab spring transform into an egyptian nightmare had the revolution to get rid of a tyrant the dictator. in the order to that we made elections a revolution and elections to choose someone to the present us it turned out that this guy is also a tyrant himself and these headlines may have been the stuff of imagination but

that sea of twenty thirteen can bring any of them to life. r.t. moscow and back with more news and headlines from the first week of twenty thirteen after this short break. the. blind motion would be soon which brightened if you knew about sound from feinstein pression. who for instance on t.v. dot com. something. law is beneath. thousands of

meters of the ice bunch of rock. the lab. that is aloof from men. but dangerous even to those who keep it at a distance. it immediately. if. it leaks. such a. such. a

and. play . up i absolutely.

absolutely . it's been revealed that the f.b.i. knew of a penalty occupy wall street activists but didn't alert them to the potential but the movement brand.

all cooperated together to monitor and investigate opic occupy wall street protesters as quote domestic terrorists and quote criminals now the more shocking revelation the headline of this story is that reportedly buried deep within the government. mentions of a plan to use snipers to assassinate occupy protesters in the movement's leaders in various cities throughout the country these alleged plans were supposed to be taking place in the fall of two thousand and eleven now the names of the groups or individuals involved in the alleged plot are redacted from the f.b.i. documents but what critics say is clear is that the f.b.i. never a learned any one of the potential any of the potential victims that their lives could possibly be in danger or that there's any threat surrounding them the partnership for civil justice fund received the f.b.i. documents on december twenty second so this is fairly new information and this was

after they filed a request under the freedom of information after now many civil rights attorneys previously have accused the f.b.i. of functioning as a de facto intelligence arm for u.s. corporations during the occupy wall street movement and especially as it grew bigger however some critics say they never ever suspected that the f.b.i. would neglect to tell occupy protesters u.s. citizens about an assassination plot surrounding them but as well as president hugo chavez who's currently. on his own swearing in ceremony today his political rivals are demanding a new election if he doesn't show up to be inaugurated for his fourth term of office political analyst eric draitser believes the opposition has taken advantage of the situation to undermine the government. what is important is the fact that the opposition is using this as a political mechanism by which they can try to delegitimize the government in venezuela remember that in two thousand and two when the united states and spain

and other powers around the world collaborated and conspired to oust chavez in an illegal coup and we saw what the significance of chavez was that he had a base of support on the streets in that country that could not be shaken by an international force and so what they're attempting to do is to use his health situation to break apart that base of support and to convince people that chavez is unable to serve the the constitution in venezuela allows for wiggle room here it does not say that just because he can't be at the inauguration at that given moment that there has to be new elections that is what the opposition is trying to create something that is not explicit they're trying to make it explicit the constitution it says that it can be delayed there are alternative arrangements that can be made to swearing in can take place in a different location and also it says that the new elections can only be called if

and only if the elected president is permanently unable to serve there is no indication that chavez won't recover from where he is now so to say that he's permanently incapacitated is not one hundred percent true. also ahead for you this hour signs of these in turn choose between china and to bed late report on how the work of investments may be used to try and improve beijing standing in the rest of return. also later the church of england operates a hand and glove with the state but it's losing washers along the way that's still to come. french i call him here could become a russian citizen as early as sunday the film star has arrived and the russian black sea resort of sochi weighs thought to be about to get his new passport from president letting a person personally and permission granted citizenship after the accident turned his back on his native france in a route of escalating taxes on. city trails according to russian president's

press secretary dmitry peskov crain sees it as a preview on a personal trip to so much and there is a possibility of that he might attend an informal meeting with the president flies middle pugin and very few might be given his brand new russian passport meanwhile gerard depardieu has already been granted russian citizenship and before that he remembers his french two thousand shipped in moves to belgium where reportedly he has some real estate now this news comes as french president francois or one is trying to push forward a law that will the french citizens who earn more than one million euro piece seventy five percent of their earnings to taxes meanwhile in another french legendary movie i can brigitte bardot is also think i'm following the foodstuff of judges for you however is that by simply for you the reason you know she's also

a veteran anymore right complainer and she has threatened to apply for russian citizenship if french authorities use the nice pier opposite allophones at home now explaining why she thought. russia she said that she believed that pleasure was an important has done more to protect and you most the benefit of cringe presidents all together and she also said the average time she asked something as the animal rights to complain or he always helped her she also called him the president all her hard after he banned the hunting of young seals and indeed president vladimir putin has burned the reputation of a true anymore lover during the years of presidency when he was the prime minister and as always we'll have plenty more for you on line like status update facebook will have to pay for thousands of dollars in fines to germany's government over breaking the law so had to r.t.

dot com to learn what it did wrong. prison guards in brazil have busted that count which was trying to smuggle in special kids which could have helped in made andrew there a breakout that came within a whisker of getting away with it find out if it's feline guilty. divisions between israel and palestine are showing no signs of hailing but while politicians exchange harsh rhetoric it's average people have feeling the effects of the conflict also his policy of reports now on a region where israeli military checkpoints and barriers make daily life in missouri. israelis cannot live in the west bank and most palestinians cannot live

in israel which leaves those israelis and palestinians who want to share a home out in the cold. one hundred my husband this from have broken i'm from jerusalem i found work in jerusalem and used to live there with my children but without my husband because he is not allowed to live there he couldn't visit me even once at the end of each week i would go to have been to visit him but lived like that for four years well come to no man's land a neighborhood that is technically part of jerusalem but in reality is on the palestinian side of the security wall that israel has built some two thousand mixed couples live here i think. the problem of cooper rocket is that so many people are immigrating to the area because they have to so in four years we've had a growth of thirty five thousand people it's become more crowded than gaza. so here and so one came to live here six years ago with their three children but life in

the village is far from ideal the schools are overcrowded garbage is collected only once a week and there's little fresh water so if one is old and sick and basic health services are hard to come by. my husband and my daughter don't have israeli i.d.'s and they can't pass through the checkpoints they need special permission which is very difficult to get on the other hand i am to have my children have israeli id they have a lot of problems far curb is in north jerusalem eighty two percent of the land belongs to jerusalem eighteen percent to the west bank residents pay taxes to the israeli government but because the area lies outside the israeli wall israel is slow to provide services the municipality says that many of the people living in cloud cover are doing so illegally and so it's not obliged to provide them with services it also says that the security wall makes it more complicated to carry out the services and the state needs. give it more money there have been small

victories though residents took the municipality to court and one garbage collection at least for now should be more frequent this is from the instability. of an enemy and arabs in jerusalem so we have to kill that because we have all right we will be the turks of everything and the suffering from their phones and internet access are limited because palestinian companies are not allowed to install lines in a so-called israeli area and because the israeli police won't come here law enforcement is scarce and the more there are poorly booklets like this one the goal is to make them not go out of jerusalem to make them fall under the jurisdiction of the palestinian authority and living in the middle of it all couples like so hard and suffer and they nearly want to be together but politics and division are making that more and more difficult every day police here r.t. . this week a law was robert allowing the u.s.

military to detain terror suspects indefinitely including americans without charge or trial the national defense authorization act also extends the restrictions on transferring detainees out of gun tunnel for another year veteran congressman dennis kucinich things the move is part of a pattern that undermines democracy. right now we're much more of a garrison and a garrison plus a powerful military which keeps asserting itself globally and it doesn't make america a safer and frankly doesn't make the world safer we're spending upwards of six hundred billion dollars for an expanded pentagon presence for more war in afghanistan and for proliferation of war in in yemen and somalia and other places we have a lot of problems here at home that we're not taking care of we have massive unemployment people are losing their homes people are losing their retirement security and i continue to say that we have to start emphasizing taking care of

things here at home instead of developing a bigger footprint around the world as far as our military presence and not the recent move by critics antidemocratic obama extended an ox that allows for the one copping of americans without a warrant and u.s. national security agency whistleblowers has nobody safe from being spied on watch the full interview with when they need later this hour but here's a quick preview. f.b.i. hands access to the data collected which is basically the e-mails of virtually everybody in the country. and they have the f.b.i. has access to it all the congressional members are on on the surveillance too it's not no one's excluded they're all included so yes this can happen to to anyone if they become a target for whatever reason. if they were targeted by the government the government can go in with the f.b.i. or other agencies of the government can go into that database pull that they would collect the.